Lijit Ad Wijit

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Christian not in running as assistant, but is Greg Paulus?

A good Christian, but not for the Mount - yet

As coach Robert Burke looks to fill his vacant assistant positions, we know one man who will not be on staff - Jamion Christian.

The class of 2004 Mount graduate says that while he would love the chance to return to Emmitsburg some day, he would only do so as head coach and is not interested in applying for the position of first assistant.

"I wouldn’t go for the first assistant job, no disrespect to coach Burke, but my goal is to be a head coach at Mount St. Mary’s one day or be a head coach at some level at some place," Christian said via telephone during the weekend.

The 28-year-old second assistant at the College of William & Mary described his interview process with the Mount as very positive, but does not see any scenario in which he would be on coach Burke's staff.

"Honestly I think coach Burke will do a great job, I truly believe that. But I think we’ve got something truly special going on here that I’d really only leave to be a head coach somewhere," Christian added.

The former rhetoric and communications major at the Mount describes his job at William & Mary as the ideal fit for him until he is offered the right head coaching position.

"I got a great job, man. I’m sitting here in Williamsburg right now, I have a business call at 2:15, I’m about to have a quick lunch with my fiancé, coach Shaver's a great guy to work for and I’m learning a ton of basketball," Christian stated. "I recruit the best area in the country; D.C., Maryland, Virginia. I’m at a pretty good place right now and the best thing about it is that I hold my future in my hands."

With Christian's quick ascension from an assistant at NCAA Division III Emory and Henry College in Virginia, to director of basketball operations at Bucknell, and now second assistant with the Tribe, the former three-year captain at the Mount under coach Jim Phelan looks well on his way to a head position somewhere.

"If we beat Carolina [in the first round of the NIT] maybe I’m sitting up there with you today," Christian said.

But I got the sense from our conversation that his ambition will not make him wait much longer for his opportunity.

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Paulus at the Mount?

It is a long shot, but could we see former Duke point guard and, more recently, Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus on staff at the Mount?

Paulus was in contact with a candidate other than Robert Burke about coming on staff with the Mount if that candidate landed the position.

The former No. 1 high school football recruit in the nation from Syracuse, N.Y. (and 2004 Gatorade High School football player of the year), used his fifth year of NCAA athletics eligibility to quarterback the Orange this season before more recently heading off to rookie minicamp with the New Orleans Saints.

According to variousoutlets, however, Paulus was not offered a contract to remain with the team. This could open the door for his quest to return to college basketball as a coach.

It is unclear whether Paulus was specifically tied to the original candidate whom he contacted, or if he was solely interested at getting started at the Mount. Whatever the scenario, he would be a great addition to the Mount program for various reasons: He played for arguably the best college coach in the game if not the best of all time behind John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski; he would bring instant recognition to the program via media and fans as a former nationally-recognized player; and he would be a big draw for recruits, bringing with him ties of some form to the New York state as well as Durham area.

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My blog I just wrote for the Frederick News-Post re: coach Burke should be up at some point today at this link: http://bit.ly/aBqAPk

More looking back on the coaching search in the coming days.

And today is my birthday so I'm off to Pylesville to get some homemade stromboli from my mom. Thanks for reading and I'm still jobless.

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

I wonder if the Paulus news had anything to do with the WoJo rumors. Either way I wouldnt mind seeing him on the sideline. Burke needs to get some black assistants on the sideline though...say what you want and i'm not trying to start a race discussion but it makes a difference with recruiting especially a small rural, white college.

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